... But if it's somewhere that's cheap and fast enough to get the train to, I'm I might be able to make it.

Would somewhere like Manchester or Liverpool be close enough?

Are those places people'd be interested in? If we did Manchester Mendilian could look for somewhere to live too! I'd be pretty up for a weekend somewhere Northern but the only non-Olympic August weekend I'm free is the weekend of the 18th. Oh & it'd have to be cheap, I'm travelling so much this year that I can't really justify another trip unless it's cheap!

I could definitely do either of those. Manchester is better just because the trains are better. And the cheaper the better for me as well - I need to save money for American junk food in November.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

Hmph. I can't believe you didn't all jump at my fabulous suggestion. Wasted on you!

i very nearly mentioned my having never been north of Birmingham and that i would be interested in changing that. only problem is i don't have an idea of how much it would cost to get me up there from the south west.

_________________vegan cheese bigamy is not allowed. - LisaPunk

So today at PPK I learned how to fork up a falafel and a taco. - craiger_ny

I'm totally down with the East Midlands. I love Nottingham, and it looks like I can get there for about £70 return (depending on when it actually is, since I can only look into July for train tickets). I might even be able to convince Mike to come with me (though maybe I don't want to).

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

So are we going for the weekend of 18 August? How are we deciding on a location? Do we need a poll? It looks like the two most popular locations are Manchester and Nottingham (unless I missed another serious suggestion). What do y'all think? I know August seems far off, but it's actually only 3 months away.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

If the weekend is right you could come sleep on my floor / camp in my garden. People born in Stoke like to defend it as being close to good places. When I ask why they don't just live in good places they go quiet. But there is alcohol and Indian food and proximity to good places. And ceramics.